Improper mounting of lasers

[SonicWaffles]

I felt it might be valuable to share this as a new member to this hobby. I have taken laser safety very seriously, and own a pair of "Eagle Pair® 190-540nm & 800-1700nm OD5 Laser Safety Goggles" (the $65 option).

I am building my first laser using one of those $15 NICHIA M140 (A140?) diodes from ebay equipped with a linear regulator. I decided my desk was an appropriate place to breadboard test my circuit. In doing so, I had the diode mounted in a standard AixiZ module laying on the desk. When disconnecting everything after testing, the diode moved slightly and pointed the beam towards my body momentarily before powering off. I was not in the beam path at any point, and I was wearing the OD5+ goggles from survival lasers which are advertised as appropriate for that wavelength.

I have decided to not move forward with any future builds until I have a bench vice to hold things in place during assembly. I suppose this is the reason laboratory settings use a heavy metal table with bolts securing modules and optics in place. I should do the same to ensure safety during laser construction.

 

[RedCowboy]

I like the linear motion mounts for our 12 and 20mm modules, you can mount them easily for your projects and they are inexpensive, also they make good thermal contact.

 

[SonicWaffles]

RedCowboy,

I don't feel like making a new thread about this, so I will just tag it on here.

I got around to "modifying" my first laser purchased - a Dragon Lasers 35 mW Viper (Green). I assume it is a 532 nm laser source, but after checking the receipts, it doesn't explicitly say the wavelength. I work in a lab and might be able to find a CCD to test the actual emission, but that's neither here nor there.

I equipped my safety squints and pointed the laser through the goggles while recording. I noticed in using it earlier with my goggles, that I could see GREEN light through it. Judging by the OD rating at the indicated wavelengths, I should not see any green, correct? Even if this amateur modification allowed 1 W optical output power (which it definitely doesn't), the observed output power should only be 0.01 mW (dividing by 100,000).

My concern is that the color observed is green which should not be the case. If it was orange or something I would be satisfied because that would indicate fluorescence of the target material and thus diffuse non-laser light. Is it possible I got a defective pair of Eagles? Honestly I feel like asking for a refund and shelling out more for a pair from ThorLabs or Kentek. At least they have ANSI certification.

 

[RedCowboy]

All my eagle pair glasses from Survival lasers have always been very good, but you need to read the range and level of attenuation, it's not linear across the entire range and there used to be a graph, I know Thorlabs shows the graph so maybe you want to shop HERE

Those do not look like the amber/orange glasses which you should be using for green lasers.

These are good for green> https://www.survivallaser.com/Eagle...ver_Laser_Safety_Goggles/p556088_3346945.aspx

 

[Sowee7]

RedCowboy,

I don't feel like making a new thread about this, so I will just tag it on here.

I got around to "modifying" my first laser purchased - a Dragon Lasers 35 mW Viper (Green). I assume it is a 532 nm laser source, but after checking the receipts, it doesn't explicitly say the wavelength. I work in a lab and might be able to find a CCD to test the actual emission, but that's neither here nor there.

I equipped my safety squints and pointed the laser through the goggles while recording. I noticed in using it earlier with my goggles, that I could see GREEN light through it. Judging by the OD rating at the indicated wavelengths, I should not see any green, correct? Even if this amateur modification allowed 1 W optical output power (which it definitely doesn't), the observed output power should only be 0.01 mW (dividing by 100,000).

My concern is that the color observed is green which should not be the case. If it was orange or something I would be satisfied because that would indicate fluorescence of the target material and thus diffuse non-laser light. Is it possible I got a defective pair of Eagles? Honestly I feel like asking for a refund and shelling out more for a pair from ThorLabs or Kentek. At least they have ANSI certification.

well i know im kinda necroposting but i feel like this is important as i have the exact same glasses as yours and testing it with a 10mw 532nm source, i definitely see some green light going through it ( i would say 0.5-1mw). but still, this might not seem like a lot at first but it can be really dangerous if i am using high/moderate power 532nm dpss lasers and accidently get it shot in my eye. it seems like there is no testing done by survival lasers

 

[RedCowboy]

Survival lasers sells ( EaglePair ) which were recommended to me by trusted members here and have tested good in my non professional testing as well as testing good by others here years ago, however mine are years old and I have read that as of late they may have some quality control issues, so the best thing to do is buy quality certified glasses from somewhere such as Thorlabs, or one of the sellers of certified laser safety glasses.

If you look at Thorlabs graph for amber glasses you will see they start dropping off sharply after 535nm but are rated as OD 7+ up to 534nm so maybe eagle pair has has some issues near the cutoff ? Best to buy certified glasses when in doubt and know the wavelength of your laser if it's near the cutoff.

 

[Garoq]

well i know im kinda necroposting but i feel like this is important as i have the exact same glasses as yours and testing it with a 10mw 532nm source, i definitely see some green light going through it ( i would say 0.5-1mw). but still, this might not seem like a lot at first but it can be really dangerous if i am using high/moderate power 532nm dpss lasers and accidently get it shot in my eye. it seems like there is no testing done by survival lasers

Green wavelengths are very visible to the eye even at very low power levels. I highly doubt anything close to 1mW was going through the goggles, that would be too bright to look at directly.